The weak voice sounded muffled.
"Is your cold not getting worse?" Uesugi Sakura asked, looking at the little nose on the screen that was flushed.
Hanamaru Hanabi gently nodded, her cheeks redder than usual, perhaps due to the fever.
"Sakura-kun... are you taking a bath?"
The screen on the other end was blurry with steam.
"Soaking in a hot spring."
"Sakura-kun... why are you having a video call with Hanabi while in a hot spring..." Hanamaru Hanabi’s voice lowered a few tones, shifting her evasive gaze away from him.
"I mainly wanted to check on how Hanabi’s cold was doing, didn’t think much of it."
Sakura adjusted the camera to only show his face, "Did you get some good rest at home today?"
"Mm, Hanabi originally wanted to go, but Dad also told Hanabi to rest for a couple more days." Hanamaru Hanabi looked at the camera, "Dad also said if Sakura-kun does this again, he won’t let Sakura take Hanabi out at night..."
Uesugi Sakura: "It’s my fault..."
In May, near the rainy season, the weather started to become unpredictable.
The Hosokawa Garden last night inexplicably turned chilly, and the rain suddenly started while the two, having snuck in, were sitting there.
The rain was heavy, mixed with cold night winds as little Hanabi climbed the wall for quite a while during this.
The two rushed home, soaking wet.
Luckily, it wasn’t far from home.
Hanamaru Hanabi’s cute face was drenched by the rain, her white little dress thoroughly soaked, and her hair was also messy.
After letting her take a warm bath at his home, Uesugi Sakura had her wear his clothes.
Waiting for them naturally was Hanamaru Hiroki, standing expressionless at the entrance.
"About last night... I’m sorry."
After much thought, Uesugi Sakura apologized to her as she suffered from the cold.
Hanamaru Hanabi, after all, is a girl; although quite healthy, due to her constitution, a cold isn’t easy to recover from.
As a child, she had also been hospitalized because of a high fever.
"Was last night’s sleep uncomfortable?"
"Not really..." Hanamaru Hanabi answered nasally, "Sakura-kun doesn’t need to worry about Hanabi... Hanabi will get better soon..."
Her cheeks were flushed, her nose blocked to the point she was breathing through her mouth, but she still showed a warm smile on the screen.
Uesugi Sakura remembered her discomfort from the fever in the morning, and her smiling face made him open his mouth, unsure of what to say, "Pushing yourself again."
"Hanabi... just doesn’t want Sakura-kun to worry..." Her weak voice carried no complicated reasoning.
Uesugi Sakura saw Hanamaru Hanabi shrinking under her blanket, her delicate face exhausted and lacking energy.
"Just sleep, I won’t disturb your rest anymore."
Hanamaru Hanabi lay down, her head resting on the pillow, pulling up the blanket to cover her white neck: "Hanabi... wants to chat with Sakura-kun more..."
"Didn’t we talk for quite a while last night?"
"Mm," Hanamaru Hanabi sniffled, her head aching, hugging her phone with both hands, groggily nodding, "I really want... to always be with Sakura-kun..."
Hearing her barely audible voice, Uesugi Sakura smiled at her:
"Let’s not; sleep first. After catching a cold, you need more rest after taking medicine."
"Okay..." Hanamaru Hanabi weakly agreed.
After exchanging goodnights, Uesugi Sakura hung up the video call.
Hanamaru Hanabi closed her eyes, placing the now dark-screened phone over her heart, her small body curling up in the warm blanket, her head and breathing becoming groggy.
The discomfort from the fever made her toss and turn during the night, appearing to have nightmares, occasionally furrowing her eyebrows, weakly calling out the childhood name for Uesugi Sakura.
On Tuesday, the sun seemed a bit bigger today, its dazzling beams slanting into the manor within the bamboo forest.
Perhaps because his cold wasn’t completely gone, Uesugi Sakura, who had just sat up from bed, was staring at his hands, reminiscing about last night’s dream, lost in thought.
Seisuke Yooya, who shared the room with him, brought him back to his senses after finishing his morning routine and seeing him still sitting on the bed.
"Is your cold still not better?"
The golden beams allowed sight of the tiny dust particles floating in the air.
"It’s not a cold," Uesugi Sakura said, "just thinking about some things."
"...You seem a bit off."
Having gotten up, Uesugi Sakura washed up, putting on his white Kyudo uniform, and with Seisuke Yooya, left the room.
The eaves of the house were clean and even, a turn of the head showing the shivering, lush long bamboo swaying with the wind.
After breakfast, it was the gathering time at eight.
"Your goal this time is to win the Seiho Championship, but after this learning experience, I hope you gain more than just a championship."
On the pristine floor of the bamboo forest dojo, the white-haired Ogasawara Shikyo Fan Shi spoke, demonstrating his shooting technique to the group.
He set the arrow on the bow, drawing it far, the string taut, the over two-meter-long bamboo bow bending inward on both sides under his strength.
About a meter-long arrowhead just slightly protruding out of the bow.
Every move was deliberate, yet the arrow flew from his hand.
A simple shooting technique, seemingly without any special characteristics, yet it hit the target center exactly.
"Hey, Kanai, did you see anything?" Hirata Masanobu whispered close to Kanai Hideyoshi sitting in front of him.
"Archery." Like two words out of Uesugi’s mouth.
"Well, it’s definitely archery, but I don’t get it; that stance looks quite demanding, right?"
"Yeah," Kanai Hideyoshi nodded in agreement, "but taking a look at his breathing, Teacher Ogasawara seems quite relaxed."
This morning, Ogasawara Shikyo didn’t offer much guidance but instructed them to continue practicing the breathing method discussed the afternoon before.
Obviously, none had managed to grasp that rhythmical, naturally accurate breathing technique during the nocking and drawing process.
Ogasawara Fan Shi’s simple archery appeared quite mysterious.
——The string pillow’s role is to hook the bowstring with the thumb; the kake prevents the bowstring from biting into the hand, or releasing the arrow prematurely.
In general, bows drawn to shoulder level make one prone to leaning into the bow for power.
But it’s different with the Japanese bow.
——Both hands grip the bow, first raising it above the shoulders, higher than the head. The hand not yet drawing remains almost fully extended.
Then, hands slowly lower, simultaneously pushing the bow and pulling the string apart, further apart they spread, the longbow bends downward even more.
Until the left hand is level with the eye, the arrowhead touches the cheek slightly.
This distinct way of drawing a bow makes arm tension almost inevitable, and due to the unique make of the Japanese bow, the pulling hands waver.
This noon and morning, everyone pondered how Ogasawara Shikyo Fan Shi achieved muscle relaxation while drawing.
Uesugi Sakura leaned against a cane chair, listening to the breeze blowing through the bamboo forest, gazing at the leisurely white clouds in the blue sky, recalling the yet unfaded morning memory evoked by dreams.